"What is that to you, friend?"
"An please you, sir, it is a great deal to them!"
"Yes—ha! ha! it is a great deal to everybody whether they are alive or dead!" Mr. Morton, since he had been mayor, now and then had his joke. "But really—"
"Roger!" said Mrs. Morton, under her breath—"Roger!"
"Yes, my dear."
"Come this way—I want to speak to you about this bill." The husband approached, and bent over his wife. "Who's this man?"
"I don't know."
"Depend on it, he has some claim to make-some bills or something. Don't commit yourself—the boys are dead for what we know!"
Mr. Morton hemmed and returned to his visitor.
"To tell you the truth, I am not aware of what has become of the young men."